Device for selectively discharging vials having closure caps sealed thereto and vials without closure caps from a vial filling and sealing apparatus



2,987,180 CHARGING vIALs HAVING GLO SURE W. A. SHIELDS VIALS WITHOUT CLOSURE CAPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DEvIcE FOR SELECTIVELY DIs cAPs' SEALED THERETO AND FROM A vIAL FILLING AND SEALING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 8, 1959 June 6, 1961 1,1 I I l I l l I .unl n r l l lu I L v vmmH INVENTO WALTER A. SHIELDS A'ITORNEY June 1951 w. .A. SHIELDS 2, 87,180

DEVICE FOR SELECTIVELY DISCHARGING VIALS HAVING CLOSURE CAPS SEALED THERETO AND VIALS WITHOUT CLOSURE CAPS FROM A VIAL FILLING AND SEALING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTYOR WALTER A.SHIELDS ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,987,180 DEVICE FOR SELECTIVELY DISCHARGING VIALS HAVING CLOSURE CAPS SEALED THERETO AND VIALS WITHOUT CLOSURE CAPS FROM A VIAL FILLING AND SEAL- ING APPARATUS Walter A. Shields, Jamaica, N.Y. (38-09 24th St., Long Island City 1, N.Y.) Filed Sept. 8, 1959, Ser. No. 838,583 6 Claims. (Cl. 209-90) This invention relates to apparatus for filling vials with a liquid medicament, such as novocain and penicillin, positioning closure caps on the filled vials, sealing the closure caps to the filled vials and selectively discharging vials having closure caps sealed thereto and vials without closure caps from the apparatus.

This invention particularly relates to a device for selectively or separately discharging vials having closure caps sealed thereto and vials without closure caps from the apparatus.

It is an object of the invention to provide a selecting device having means extending above the line of travel of the tops of the vials and in the line of travel of a part of the-closure caps to engage the closure caps and support the vials independently of vial supporting means.

It is another object of the invention to provide a vial support with discharge openings arranged relative to the selecting device whereby the first opening in the path of travel of the vials will receive the vials without closure caps thereon and the second opening in the path of travel of the vials will receive the vials with closure caps sealed thereto.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description of the invention.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application: 7

FIGURE lis .a-topplan view of-part .of vthe apparatus arranged with the embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE Z-isaseetional -view, 'on an enlarged-scale, taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 on a larger scale to more clearly show the selecting device;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view in a vertical plane, on an enlarged scale, to show the manner of supporting a vial having a closure cap sealed thereto relative to the discharge opening for vials without closure caps;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the path of travel of the vials to show the manner of discharging a vial without a closure cap;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of FIGURE 6 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the selecting device.

The embodiment of the invention is used in conjunction with apparatus for filling vials with a liquid medicament, positioning closure caps on the filled vials and sealing the closure caps to the vials. Part of the apparatus is shown as consisting of a table 9 supporting a platform 10 in a horizontal plane for supporting a plurality of vials v in upright position. A member 11 is rotatably mounted on the table 9 to rotate in a horizontal plane spaced above the platform. The member 11 is arranged with an annular series or row of equidistantly spaced square openings 12 for transporting the vials along the platform 10. The openings 12 are slightly larger than the diameter of the vials to permit lateral adjustment of the vials in the transporting member 11, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The upper ends of the openings 12 are rounded, as at 13 in FIGURES 2,987,180 Patented June 6, 1961 1 and 4, to facilitate the initial engagement of empty vials into the openings 12.

In the step of positioning a closure cap 0 on a vial v, there may be a few vials which do not receive a closure cap for a number of reasons, such as the absence of a closure cap at the positioning station. To avoid the discharge of all vials from the apparatus regardless whether they have a sealed closure cap thereon or not into a common depository, there is provided means after the closure caps are sealed to the vials to selectively or separately discharge from the apparatus vials having closure caps sealed thereto and vials without closure caps. This is accomplished by first providing the table 9 with two discharge tubes 14 and 15 secured to the underface of the table and curved laterally to have the delivery ends 16 and 17, respectively, extend from the side of the table, as shown in FIGURE 1. The inlet ends of the tubes 14 and 15 communicate with openings 18 and 19, respectively, in the table, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The platform 10 is provided with openings 20 and 21 corresponding to and in vertical alignment with the openings 18 and 19, respectively. The centers of the tubes 14 and 15, of the openings 18 and 19 and of the openings 20 and 21 are spaced from each other a distance equal to the distance between the centers of alternate openings 12 in the transporting member 11, as shown in FIGURE 2.

It is the object of the invention to permit vials'vrithout closure caps thereon to be discharged through the openings 21 and 19 into the tube 15 and to restrain'the vials having closure caps sealed thereto from entering the opening 21 while permitting said latter vials to bedischarged through the openings 26 .and 18 into the tube 14.

This is accomplished by a selecting device comprising a U-shaped member 22 secured at the connecting portion to a horizontal end portion 23 of a bracket arm 24 mounted on a housing 25 supported by and extended upwardly from the table 9,.as shown in FIGURE 1. The side walls of the U-shaped member 22 converge towardeach other 'from the connecting portion, as shown in FIGURES 3, 5, 7 and 8, and the converging end portions are bent inwardly to form a pair of horizontal walls 26 spaced from each other. The opposed edges of the walls 26 extend in arcuate directions toward and away from each other in the direction of travel of the vials on the platform 10 to form a passage having a converging mouth or entrance portion 27, a neck or restricted intermediate portion 28 and a diverging exit or release portion 29 of greater length than the combined lengths of the entrance and neck portions 27 and 28, respectively. The horizontal walls 26 extend in a horizontal plane above the plane of travel of mouth portions in of the vials v, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 6, so that the vials having no closure caps sealed thereto will pass below the walls 26 and drop through the openings 21 and 19 into the tube 15, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3, 6 and 7. The mouth portion 27 of the passage is positioned in the path of travel of an annular groove g above the closed end of the closure caps 0, so that the opposed edges of the horizontal walls 26 will extend into said groove g and support the vials during the travel of the vials along the platform iii from the inner narrow end of the mouth 27 to the commencement of the diverging portion of the exit 29 which is in vertical alignment with a point in the platform 1!) beyond the opening 21 therein whereby the vial is supported by the horizontal walls 26 while it is transported by the member 11 past the opening 21 in the platform 10, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 5. When the groove 3 of the closure cap c is released by the opposed edges of the horizontal walls 26, the vial will be supported by the platform 10 until the vial is moved by the transporting member 11 to the opening 20 in the platform 10 where it will drop through the openings 20, 18 unto the tube 3 14, as shown in FIGURES l and 2. To accomplish supporting the vials by the neck portion 28, two-thirds of the length of the member 22 extends rearwardly of the center of the tube 15 and one-third of the length of said member 22 extends forwardly of the center of the tube 15, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The vials travel along the platform 10 in an annular path and the center line of the passage 2729 in the member 22 extends at a tangent to said annular path with the point of contact in the neck portion 28 of said passage, as shown in FIGURE 4, so that the inner edge of the passage will remain in the groove g longer than the outer edge of the passage. The square openings 21 and the larger size of the openings 21 will permit the adjustment of the closure cap groove g in the passage 2729 without causing damage to the vial.

The tubes 14 and 15 discharge the capless vials and the capped vials into separate depositories, not shown. The depository for the capless vials is adapted to receive the liquid in said vials To restrain the free flow of the liquid which might be spilled during the discharge of the capless vials from'the transporting member 11 through the opening 21 to the opening 19, the table 9 is provided with a raised edge portion 30, as shown in FIGURE 1.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device for selectively discharging vials having closure caps sealed thereto and vials without closure caps from a vial filling and sealing apparatus, a table arranged withv spaced discharge tubes arranged in a predetermined path, a platform mounted in a horizontal plane above the table to support vials in upright position and having openings in vertical alignment with the discharge tubes, a member rotatably mounted in a horizontal plane spaced above the platform and having a series of equidistantly spaced openings for transporting the vials along the platform and past the openings in the platform, and a selecting member mounted above the transporting member in vertical alignment with the platform opening first in the path of travel of the vials and having a pair of walls spaced from each other and extending in a horizontal plane spaced a predetermined distance above the transporting member, whereby the vials without closure caps will drop through the platform opening first in the path of travel of the vials and into the discharge tube aligned with said first platform opening, and the closure caps on the vials being supported by the pair of walls during the travel of the vials past the first platform opening and released from said walls after passing said first platform opening to be supported by the platform and drop through the platform opening second in the path of travel of the vials and into the tube aligned with said second opening,

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spaced walls are arranged with opposed edges extending in arcuate directions toward and away from each other to form a passage between the walls having a narrow portion intermediate the ends thereof for engaging the part of the closure caps and supporting the vials independently of the platform.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the centers of the discharge tubes are spaced from each other a distance equal to the distance between the centers of alternate openings in the transporting member. 7

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein one-third of the length of the pair of walls extend forwardly of the center of the platform opening first in the path of travel of the vials and two-thirds of the lengths of the pair of walls extend rearwardly of the center of said platform opening in the direction of travel of the vials.

5. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the width of the narrow portion of the passage between the walls is slightly larger than the smallest diameter of the closure caps.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the passage of the selecting member is arranged with a mouth portion having the sides converging toward the intermediate narrow portion and an exit portion having the sides diverging from the intermediate narrow portion.

2,745,548 Schroeder .l.. May 15, 1956 

